News 12:00

BULLETIN 2 September 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The US Congress passes a two-year reauthorisation of AGOA, extending the trade programme through 2028
# A report reveals warning signs were visible days before the deadly glacier collapse in Nepal and Tibet
# And rugby: The Boks’ scrum coach refutes allegations of encroachment in scrums

# The US Congress has passed an extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act until the end of 2028. This followed Senate’s approval last month. AGOA was first enacted in 2000 to provide duty-free access to the US market for eligible Sub-Saharan countries, including South Africa, covering over one-thousand-800 products. Democratic Congresswoman Terri Sewell says AGOA strengthens economic ties, creating opportunities for American workers and businesses while supporting growth across Africa:

# FNB Bank senior agricultural economist, Paul Makube, says today’s sharp fuel-price increase has arrived at a sensitive time for the agricultural sector, just weeks before the start of the summer crop production season. Petrol prices have increased by one-rand-34-cents a litre, and diesel prices by between two-rand-93- and three-rand-15-cents per litre. Makube says the renewed surge in diesel prices suggests cost pressures may start to rebuild across the agri-food value chain:

# The Special Investigating Unit has welcomed the arrest of syndicate kingpin Joel Govindraju in connection with its probe of more than two-billion-rand looted through Tembisa Hospital tenders. He faces multiple charges arising from allegations of the procurement of medical supplies and equipment at the hospital. The SIU says the Govindraju Syndicate siphoned approximately 600-million-rand from the Gauteng hospital. The 37-year-old is out on 200-thousand-rand bail. The SIU says it remains determined to root out corruption across every government department, municipality and public entity where it is mandated to investigate.

Moving abroad:

# A report shows the glacier that collapsed and triggered the deadly flash floods in Nepal and Tibet last week, showed visible signs of instability days before the disaster. The death toll stands at over one-thousand-100, with some four-thousand people still missing. The report, compiled by a group of international scientists, states pre-event indications included satellite imagery showing a change in the glacier’s surface. The scientists say warning times of ten minutes or more, and comprehensive and well-capacitated systems could have saved a significant number of lives.

# Rugby: Springbok scrum coach Daan Human says it’s not in his nature to try to cheat or instruct his players to scrum illegally. This follows New Zealand coach Dave Rennie’s accusations over South Africa’s alleged underhanded tactics in the scrum. He suggested the Boks were “walking around” opponents in the set-piece. Human says they will work even harder to be precise in what they are doing in a scrum, emphasising straightforward dominance:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-14-cents and the euro at 18-rand-69-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-80-cents and Bitcoin trades at 77-thousand-278-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-325-dollars-63-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 97-dollars-18-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….